Ho to Use Social How to Use Social Networking Sites to

How
Ho to Use Social
Networking
g Sites to
Communicate to Families
Chris Christensen – Johnson County CC
Robb Cummings – Sallie Mae

C
Communication
i ti
llandscape
d
ttoday
d

Common social media sites

Things to consider

Group discussion and questions
Agenda




The freshman
s
a class
ass of
o 2015
0 5 was
as born
bo in
1993.
There has always been an Internet ramp
onto the information highway.
PCs and Apples of the early 90’s had hard
d i
drives
smaller
ll than
th
today’s
t d ’ flash
fl h drives.
d i
For many students, email is passé and
because of cell phones
phones, wrist watches are
no longer necessary.
Source: Beloit College’s 2011 Mindset List
www.beloit.edu/mindset

Co
Communication
u a o is
s no
o longer
o g a one-way
o
ay
street.

People now spend more time on social
networking sites such as Facebook and
Twitter than on p
personal/work
/
email.

Generational
◦ Millennials are the heaviest users
◦ Baby Boomers are the fastest growing users
Shifts in Communication

Social networking
g continues to evolve into
ever more powerful uses for:
 Admissions
 Financial Aid
 Bursar
 Career
C
C
Counseling
li
 Alumni
 Fundraising
 Other Offices
Overall Campus
Communication Strategy

Cross-campus
p collaboration

Know your audience & objectives

Focus on ongoing activity within the campus
community rather than on specific campaigns

Measure your success…and adjust when
necessary
Overall Campus
Communication Strategy

Co
Connect
with s
students/families
ud
s/ a
s where
they are

Larger reach with fewer staff resources

Competitive advantages

Rapid dissemination of message
What’s in it for the FAO?
 What
 Who
do we want to achieve?
do we want to reach?
 What
social media channels are the
right ones for our institution? What
will work best for our office?
Plan Your Strategy
Where to Start?!
Even MORE Options…
Common Social Media Channels

750
50 million+
o
active
a
users
us s

900 million+ objects (pages, groups,
events etc.)
events,
etc )

20 million + applications
pp
installed daily
y

Millions of websites have integrated with
Facebook
Facebook

Provide real-time status updates

Promote events & important deadlines

Monitor and answer questions

Link to school website (or other sites)
What Can You Do On Facebook?
Facebook Page for JCCC
http://www.facebook.com/pages/php

The S
SMS
S (Short
(S o Message
ssag Service)
S
) of
o the
Internet

200 million+ users

80% of users access via mobile devices

“Tweets” – 140 character messages

Over 200 million tweets per day and 1.6
16
billion search queries per day
Twitter
FHSU Twitter Site

Vid
Video
sharing
h i
service
i

Demographic is 18-54 years old

13 million hours of video uploaded in
2010 and 35 hours of video uploaded
every minute!

700 billion playbacks in 2010
YouTube/Podcasts
Kansas State YouTube Video

Online p
photo/video management
g
and
sharing application

Over 5 billion images hosted as of
September 2010
Flickr
Blogger

www.hootsuite.com
oo su
o

Social media dashboard that allows the
user to monitor and/or post to several
sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
F
Foursquare,
MySpace,
M S
W dP
WordPress,
etc.)
t )

Sched le postings in advance
Schedule
ad ance
Hootsuite
Hootsuite

M k it interactive
Make
i t
ti

Use relevant keywords
y
in “About Us”
section

Offer FAQs

Promote sites via email
Tips To Remember

Link to other social media sites

K
Keep
it current!
t!

Remember
b it is
s pub
public information
o a o

Monitor your sites for feedback/comments
Tips To Remember

Wh updates
Who
d t your site?
it ? How
H
often?
ft ?

Policy for addressing complaints and/or
negative comments posted online?

What is your institution
institution’s
s existing policy
on the use of social media sites?

Social media sites are evolving constantly.
constantly
Know when it is time to make changes.
Things to Consider…
 Tools
for social media management
◦ Google Alerts
 http://www.google.com/alerts
g g
◦ Social Mention
 http://www.socialmention.com
Manage Your Media
Google Alerts
Social Mention

Which social media sites are your institutions
using?

What issues/challenges have you
experienced?

Any unanticipated benefits?

Advice from your experience?
Open Discussion